Fire-escape.



No. 826,702. PATENTE D JULY 24, 1906.

' G. W. YOUNKMAN.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION 111L313 12.29. 1905.

a SHEETS-SHBET 1.

62 4 [aw 0% V 4* Nb- 826,702. PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

G. W. YOUNKMAN. FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLIOATION FILED APILZQ. 1905.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

l nt menses f h I I I /W No. 826,702. PATENTED JULY 24, 1906.

G. W. YOUNKMAN. FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.29.1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

(ff @W awuawfm (lac 4101 To all-whom it'may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. YOUNK- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. YQUNKMAN, OF DENVER, COLOVRADO.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

.MAN, acitizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of .Colorado, have invented certain new and use-' ful Improvements in Fire-Escapes and I do declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description 0 the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had'to the accomfpanying drawings, and to the figures ofre rence marked .thereon, which form a part of thisspecifica- 'tion.

My invention relates to im rovements in fire-escapes of the class whic may-be lo"- cated within or on the outside of a building,

: my object bein 3- bles are provided with lugs which enga e recesses formed inthe upper and lower w eels.

to provide an apparatus of this class whic shall be thoroughly automatic in operation, and therefore reliable under all'circumstances.

It consists, as shown in the drawings, of a pair of endless cables en aging se aratedwheels, one pair of whee s being coated above and the other below, the distance'be-- tween the upper and lower wheels being determined by the height of the building to .which the apparatus is applied. Instead of,

cables chains or other" suitable flexible devices. may 'of course be employed. The ca- The apparatus is also provided with transverse rods with which the cables are connected by clam ing devices. The cables are also ro- Nide w1th triangular brackets upon w 'ch 1 are supported platforms hinged to the trans- Verse rods of the cables. These platforms are so arrangedthat. on the downwardlydownwar moving-side of the cables the platforms are supported in a horizontal position by the brackets, while on the'upwardly-moving side .ofthe cables the platformshang down in a vertical position, since the position of the brackets is reversed and they no longer form a support for the hinged platform. 4 The apparatus is so constructed that the persons who wish to escape from the burning buildin have only to step upon the platforms and their weightqcauses the-platforms to. move 1y. .S.uit'able governing mechan ism is employed to regulate the movement of the apparatus. The necessity for governing means in .an apparatus of this class will be readily..., .understood.,v The platforms travel through a which may be closed at i p I Specification of Letters Patent. Applicationfilod a iii 29,1905. Serial No 268,062.

the apparatus, illustrating the Patented July 24., 1906.

the front and sides, except where openings are left for peo le to enter.

' Having brie f outlinednny. improved construction as wel as the function it is intended to perform, I will proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

- In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through theapparatus on the-line 1 1, Fig; 2. Fig.2 is a front view of the app aratus with the housing shown in section.

ig. 3 is a side elevation of the upper partofoverning mechanism. In this view the sha for the upper pair of wheels is shownin transverse section and the parts on a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a front view of the govermng mechanism, shown Fpartly in section and on a scale similar to ig. 3. Fig. 5 is a top view of the apparat'us taken above one of the hinged platorms, the latter being partly broken away. Fig. 6 is a detail side now showing one of the platform-supporting brackets, the platform eing shown in'the supported position and in section. Fi 7 is a front view in detail showing one of t e brackets and illustrating its connection with other arts of the apparatus.

members of the clamping device, while in Fig. 8 one member is removed. Fig. 10 illustrates the cable shown in connection with one of the lugs carried thereby; Fig.- 11 is a view of Fig. 10 looking in the direction of the arrow in the last-named figure.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the individual I wheels of the lower pair and 6 the wheels of the upper pair, the two airs of wheels being engaged by cables 7. he wheels are made fast to .u per and lower shafts 8 and 9, the said sha s being journaled in suitable supports 10 and 12. Each cable is provided at suitable intervalswith 9. lug 13, which is semicircular in shape to engage recesses 14 of corresponding shape formed in the wheels 5 and Eachlug 13 is provided with a clamping member 15, which cooperates with a clamping member 16, through which bolts 17 are passed, whereby the lug 13 is made fast to the cable. This is best illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings. The manner of connecting the two extremities of the cable is illustrated in .Figs. 8 and 9, in which two twin members 18 are employed, the same being located on opposite sides of the cable and recessed to receive the latter. These two members are connected by bolts 19.

- these plates and bent outwa'r 131 between the a plate 21, nuts 22 b'ein ep lie bers of the bolt outsi e two bolts 19, their free extremities being connected outside of the clamping members by a U-bolt 20, whose extrennti esgya'ss through to the memthe connectingplate. 'lransverse rods 23 are connected with the cables by clamping devices, each composed of two members 24 and 25, connected by bolts 26. Each clamping member 25 is provided with an eye 27, through which the rod 23 asses. The rods 23 project beyond the cab es (see Fig. 5) and are provided at their outer extremities with rollers 28', which engage channel-iron guides 29., vertically dis- 'sed on opposite sides of the apparatus.

These rollers and their cooperating guidescause the cables to maintain a practically vertical position between the upper and lower wheels, whereby the cables and their attachments are revented from swaying either inwardly or outwardly, as might be the case unless guiding means were provided, as just described. Connected with each rod 23 are two brackets 30, each having the shape of a right-angled triangle, one of the sides of each bracket forming the ri htangle occu 'ying a horizontal position on t edownwar side of the cables and forming a sup port for aplatform 31, each platform being supported y the two brackets. In order to cause the brackets 30 to maintain their position upon the cables, the brackets are connected directly below the rod 23 with short spindles 32, also provided with rollers, (designated 33.) The inner extremities of these spindles are threaded to receive nuts 34, whereby the brackets are held securely in place on the spindles. This double connection causes the brackets to assume the proper position on the downwardly-moving side of the cables to support the platforms 31 in the operative position, as heretofore explained.

In order to prevent the cables from travels ing toorapidly in the event that a considerable number of people are occupying the platforms on the downwardly-moving side of the apparatus, I employ governing mechanism for automatically controlling the movement of the cables, and this mechanism will now be explained. 7 a

The upper shaft 8, upon which the wheels 6 are mounted, is provided with-a gear 35, which meshes with a gear 36, made fast .on a countm-slial't 37, journaled' in the upright supports 10. U orrpnemxtremity of the shell 37 is made ast a break-wheel 38 which The cable-terminals are assed between is engaged by two break-bands 39' and 40,

shown at 41, their opposite extremities being connected with the arms 42 and 43 of a triplearmed lever44, the third arm 45 of the lever bein rigidly connected with a bar 46, provide wlth a weight 47. This bar46 is pivotally connected with a depending rod 48 on the side. of the lever 44 remote from the weight. The lower extremity of this red is pivotally connected at 49 with lever 50, fulcrumed at 51 and having its arm on the side of its-fulcrum remote from the oint 49 pivotally connected with a vertical y-movable rod 52, as shown at 53. red 52 passes. through a tub lair column 54 and is provided at its upper extremity with a grooved collar 55, which en ages theslioft arms 56 of two governor-levers'57,=fulcruined at 58 on a roster decrease, made test to-ashort shaft 60', to w is secured a beveled gear '61, meshing with a gear 62,- fast on the ter-shait 37 9 Now it will of the cables increases the speed or the is sit 37, and consequently of the shalt 80, will also increase, whereby the rotary action extremities of the gsverncrelevers to be thrown outwardly, thus depressing the rod 52, raising the rod 48, and the leverarm 46 to cause the arms 42 an 43 of the tri le-armecl lever to move in the direction in icated by the arrow in Fig. 3, thus tighten ing both break-belt members 39 andeuwhcreby sufiicient friction is developed to properly s'lacken the speed through the instrumentality of the break-w; feel 38 and the gearing nection between tl shafts 8 and 37.

From the foregol lg descri tion the use and operation of my improve device will be readily understood. In the event of a fire or when for any reason it becomes necessary for eople to descend to the ground or to the ower floor of the buildgg where my improved a paratus is loca it is only necessary for-them to Walk tll'rou h the ope'x'iings A of the casing or housing l3, inclosing the shafts through which the hinged platforms 3 1 pass The mechanism is so arranged that it will be operated by the persons or a single person upon a platform 31, the weight 47, which is adjustable on the bar 46, being so regulated as to permit this. 7 It will be understood that the weight 47 is the normal breaking force of the device when not in use and that the position of this weight, together with its gravity, will determine the sensitiveness of the device to weights upon the platforms 31. If it is desired that the normal breaking force shall be increased, the weight 47 will be moved outwardly on the bar 46 or in the direction indicated by the arrow 2 in Fig. 3, while if it is desired that the normal breaking force shall be diminished the weight connected at their upper extremities, as

be understood that as tlie' ed of the device 59' will cause the lower wei hted ICQ seems will. be moved inwardly or in a direction oppositc the arrow in the same view.

The height of the support 1.2 for the shaft 9 must be so regulated that as soon as the platforms I31 begin to pass around the wheels with the cables the people upon the platform 31 may easily step from the platform to a suitable support. This may be easily arranged, as will be readily understood. The height of the wheels above the floor or surface upon which the bearings 12 are mounted must of course be sutflcient to allow the platformsto pass beneath the wheels. In order to prevent the platforms 31 from falling suddenly upon the brackets 30 after passing over the upper wheels 6, the apparatus is provided with a plate 63, which-is attached to an u per floor or support 64 and projects towar the wheels'e, whereby as the platforms pass over the wheels 6, moving in the direction indicated by the arrow at the up er part of Fig. 1, the outer edge ofthe plat orm will strike the plate 63, which will support it in an inclined position-above the bracket and allow it to approach the bracket gradually.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim i.s-

1. In a fire-escape, the combination of uper and lower terminal wheels, endless flexile devices mounted on the wheels, brackets hinged to the flexible devices, platforms also hinged to the flexible devices and su ported by the brackets, and means for holding the brackets in the platform-supporting position on the downwardly moving side of the apparatus.-

In apparatus of the class described, the combination of upper and lower pairs of terminal wheels, endless flexible devices engaging said wheels, transverse rods connected with the flexible devices, their extremities protrudingbeyond the said devices and being rovided with rollers, vertically-dis osed gui es engaged'by the said rollers, plat orms hinged to "the said rods, and brackets also pivotally connected with the rods and form ing a support for the platforms, the said brackets having spindlesrat their lower extremities provided with roii r-rs which also ongage the vertical guides whereby the'brack-, ets are held in the platform-supporting position on the downwardly-moving side of the apparatus, the platforms and brackets being a lowed to assume a difierent position on the u pwardly-moving side of the apparatus,

3. In a flre-escape, the combination of upper and lower pairs of terminal wheels, endless flexible devices mounted on the said' wl'ieeli's and provided with lugs adapted to en gage recesses for med in the wheels, channeliron guides mounted on the downwardlymoving side of the apparatus, rods connected with the flexible devices and'protruding beyond the cables into the said guides, brackets connected with the said rods, platforms hinged to the said rods and supported by the brackets in the horizontal position on the downwardly-moving side of the apparatus,

the brackets being provided with parts projecting into the channel-iron guides whereby the brackets are held in the'platformsupporting position on the downwardly-moving side of the apparatus, substantially as described.

4. In a fire-escape, the combination ofnpper and lower terminal wheels, endless flexible devices mounted on the wheels and provided with lugs secured tothe flexible devices and engaging recesses formed in the peripheries of the wheels, brackets hinged to the flexible devices, platforms also hinged to the flexible devices and supported by the brackets, and means for holding the brackets in the latform-supporting position on the downwar ly-moving side of the apparatus.

5. In a fire-escape, the combination of uper and lower terminal wheels, endless flexible devices engaging the Wheels, transverse rods secured to the flexible devices at suitable intervals, brackets hinged to the rods, platforms also hinged to the rods, means for holding the brackets in place to support the platforms in the horizontal position on the downwardly-moving 4 side of the apparatus, the platforms and brackets being cc to assume a changed position on the upwardly-moving side of'th'e a paratus, and suitable governor mechanism or controlling the speed of the apparatus, substantially as described,

6. In an apparatus of the classldescribcd, the combination of upper and lower terminal wheels, a shaft upon which the upper pair of wheels is mounted, overnor mechanism ac- I tuated upon the sai shaft for controlling the speed of the apparatus, endless flexible devices mounted on the saidwheels, verticallydisposed guides located on the downwardlymoving side of the apparatus, transverse rods connected with. the flexible devices and Whose extremities engage the said guides, brackets hinged to the said rods and having parts also 

